The 2018 Domaine des Cambes is plush, dark and enveloping, with striking depth and texture. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, leather, licorice, spice and menthol run through this supple, luscious Côtes de Bordeaux. The blend is 80% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec.

The 2018 Domaine de Cambes has a very perfumed and quite floral bouquet of violet-infused black cherries and boysenberry fruit. The aromas seem to envelop the senses. The palate is medium-bodied with a touch of bitter cherry on the entry, and overtly spicy with cracked black pepper and sage toward the finish. This Bordeaux AC from the Mitjavile family deserves 12–18 months to fully coalesce.

80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc. Half the usual volume because of a hailstorm that hit Bourg at the end of May. Barrel sample. Very toasty nose, almost minty in its rich sweet fruit. There is freshness but it is covered up by the oak toast/char at the moment, which seems extreme but I know from previous vintages that the fruit seems to survive. (JH)